Rotativismo

In 1851 Saldanha staged a revolt and, supported by the garrison in
Porto, gained control of the government and sent Costa Cabral into
exile. Saldanha and his followers were called Regenerators because they
recognized the need to modify the charter to make it more compatible
with the social and political situation. These modifications appeared as
amendments, the first of which was a new electoral law that made the
franchise more acceptable to the Septemberists. Gradually, government
became stabilized. The Septemberists began to be referred to as
Historicals and, later, Progressives.

The Regenerators and Progressives were not political parties in
today's sense of the term. The electorate comprised less than 1 percent
of the population; therefore, the Regenerators and Progressives were
essentially loose coalitions of notables, or leading citizens, based on
personal loyalties and local interests. Elections were held after a
change in governing factions to provide the new faction with a majority
in the legislature. By tacit agreement, one faction would govern as long
as it was able and then turn over power to the other. After 1856 this
practice of alternating factions at regular intervals, called rotativismo,
was all but institutionalized and produced relatively stable government
until the end of the nineteenth century.